a preacher looks at forty, fifty, and beyond . . .

A Wedding, Some Wine and a Promise

Reflections and Sermon Preparation for John 2:1-11

A young man from Chicago was in Kentucky on a business trip. While there, he met a young lady, fell in love and eventually wooed her into marrying him and moving back to Chicago. For three years they had a great marriage; but one day she got sick, experienced seizures and was not the same woman he had married.

When she was at her best, she was a bit demented. At her worst, she would scream and neighbors complained because the screams cut the air. It was hard to tolerate. So the young businessman left his home in the middle of Chicago, went out to one of the western suburbs and built a house; determined he would try to nurse his wife back to health and sanity again. One day, the family physician suggested that perhaps if he were to take his wife back to her Kentucky home something in those familiar surroundings would help restore her sanity. So, they went back to where she once lived. Together they walked through her old house. They went down to the garden and through her old neighborhood but, after several days, nothing seemed to happen.

Defeated and discouraged, the young man headed back to Chicago. When they got close to the house, he looked over and discovered his wife was asleep. It was the first deep, restful sleep she had had in many weeks. When he got to the house, he lifted her from the car, took her inside, placed her on the bed and realized she wanted to sleep some more. So he placed a cover over her and then just sat by her side. He watched her through the midnight hour, watched her until the first rays of the sun reached through the curtain and touched her face. The young woman awoke, and saw her husband seated by her side. She said, “I seem to have been on a long journey. Where have you been?” And that man simply said, “I’ve been right here waiting for you all this time.”

I don’t know if that story is true, but it reminds me of our God. God is right here for us to respond to His love. God is right here waiting for each of us to respond to His proposal to enter into a covenant and to taste of His amazing grace! How long does He have to wait?